


Blind Date (Prologue)

by halinalle



Series: Convergence [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Avengers (2012), Awesome Darcy Lewis, F/M, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halinalle/pseuds/halinalle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy thinks she's been set up on a date with an average, run-of-the-mill SHIELD agent. When she sees who it really is she wants nothing more than to run screaming from the restaurant. But not before she finishes her wine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT 3/3/14: I have changed nothing in these five chapters, but I have added the prologue bit to the title, as that's the purpose it will serve in this series.
> 
>  
> 
> This started out as a tumblr prompt fill, however a plot bunny got loose and I have decided to chase it. I

Darcy scanned the menu in her hands while internally kicking herself for having arrived far too early for the date. A half hour was way too long to be sitting alone in a romantic, candlelit restaurant. The waiter passed by  _again_  to make sure she was alright, and she decided to just go ahead and order drinks.  _Hope he likes merlot._ After the waiter left, a different shadow cast over the table and she glanced up to finally get a look at who it was Jane had set her up with, as all she'd been going on was a name.

 “Oh fuck no. Nonononono. Nope,” she wanted to get up, run. Was this a joke? It had to be. This was the supposedly-reformed supervillain who had A) sent the Destroyer to  _kill_  his brother and B) launched an alien attack on Manhattan. “I was told I was meeting an Agent Murray from the Boston office. You are  _so_  not what I was expecting, and well, now I’ll be leaving.” Darcy quickly rose from her chair and reached for her purse, but the playful tone in which Loki spoke caught her off guard and stopped her midway through slinging the bag over her shoulder.

“Now Miss Lewis, it would very much upset my brother to hear that all his handiwork was for naught,” Loki smirked and removed his coat before sitting down. Darcy watched him shift to get comfortable and noticed how not-evil he looked. She might even say normal. Although he ‘worked’ for Stark (through SHIELD, but don’t tell Tony that) now, whenever she’d passed the labs he always looked so… _menacing._  Like revenge was bubbling right beneath the surface .He was casually dressed, compared to the Asgardian attire he usually wore. Tonight he sported a simple deep green button up shirt with black dress pants that matched the coat hanging on his chair. It wasn’t super formal, but Darcy was still feeling underdressed in her black knee-length skirt and fitted purple sweater. It was only adding to her swiftly rising discomfort level.

She let out a long sigh before settling back into her seat. “Okay Mister Mischief,” she started, “but you try and ‘expand my mind’ and we’re going to have serious problems.”

Loki chuckled and waved his hand as a dismissal of her threat. “Have no fear, I lack the power required to do that now.” If the comment had struck a nerve like she sort of-almost hoped so she could end this night quickly, he sure as hell showed no sign of it. _I'm not sure which is creepier, insane Loki or cheerful Loki. This guy just isn't right._

“But you would if you could?” Darcy questioned flatly.

“Perhaps, but I suppose we will never really know, will we?” Loki was still smiling, his eyes were no longer cold and calculating, how she ordinarily saw them during the few brief encounters they’d shared. _They’re actually kind of pretty. Wow. Okay girl, menacing killer, rehabilitated or not. Remember that. Actually his whole face is pretty damn nice when he’s relaxed. This is weird. Stop it, STOP IT. Those thoughts have no place here right now, no matter if you think he's got Thor beat in the sexy department._

“Uhm, do you mind if I get up and make a quick phone call? I promise I won’t leave,” she questioned, adding the last bit because she was unsure of his reaction if she would have left.

“By all means, go right ahead,” Loki answered nonchalantly and picked up the menu to begin browsing the entrees.

\--

As soon as Darcy reached the bathroom she dialed her boss’ number. After two rings Jane picked up, but Darcy didn’t even give her the chance to form a greeting. “Jane, you’re killing me here! You tricked me!” she screeched into her phone.

“Please Darce, Thor really  _really_ wants his brother to get out some. He’s always either at Stark’s lab working or in his suite brooding. Thor thinks he’s getting depressed, and you can be really fun. We think you’d be good for him.”  _Fun doesn’t cure depression, Jane._ There was silence as Darcy weighed the consequences of disappointing Thor and therefore having to see his pouty face versus going through with this and hopefully, probably not getting killed. If Tony worked with him without the building getting destroyed, he couldn’t be awful, right?

“Okay fine, for Thor.” She sighed deeply before continuing, “but you owe me. You should’ve just told me. You two are so lucky he’s my kind of attractive.”

“You’re the best!” squealed the scientist. “Gotta go, I’m about to burn macaroni and cheese! –click-“

Darcy pocketed her cell and left the bathroom.  _What on earth are we even supposed to talk about? We’ve never even spoken besides that one time he compared me to a gnat. Apparently I’m annoying._ She bustled back to the table and was overjoyed to see their drinks had arrived.  _At least if I’m drunk I’ll laugh about this later._  Sitting down once again across from the God of Lies and Mischief and taking a hearty swig of her wine, she made an attempt at conversation.

“So……you don’t really seem the ‘dating-slash-having a bustling social life’ type of guy. What did your brother bribe you with to get you to come out tonight?”

 

“Oh,” Loki paused and cast his eyes downward briefly with a slight look of apprehension, before he shot them back up to her and grinned, “I didn’t do it for him.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for any sloppiness/typos, also I suck at titles.
> 
> This was a prompt submitted to me anonymously on tumblr, and since it gained some attention on there I figured I'd finally post something to my account here. I have decided I definitely will be continuing this, and the next chapter will be up by the end of the week!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gradually, the evening started flowing much more smoothly than Darcy could have ever anticipated. Here she was chatting with the formerly-evil (or so she hoped) God of Mischief, who only a few months previous had attempted to take over her world, like it was the most routine thing on earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italicized paragraphs in this chapter are scenes that happened in the past.  
> Unbeta’d, any mistakes are my own.  
> This fic may be renamed when I come up with something more creative.

_Loki sat perched on the wide windowsill of his bedroom in the Iron Man’s tower with a pillow cushioning his back and one leg stretched out before him. He flipped a page of  the book in which he was immersed when there was a knock on his door that rattled the entire wall._

_“Brother!” Thor bellowed joyously from the other side._

_A small groan escaped him as he closed his book and let his head fall back against the window frame with a dull thud. “What, Thor?” he asked through gritted teeth._

_Thor thrust open the door and stepped in, Jane trailing behind him acting as though she meant to hide herself from the trickster. Loki raised an eyebrow at her and she responded by quickly looking away. Of course. Always fearful and untrusting of him._

_“Will you join the Lady Jane and I to Stark’s dinner party this evening?” Thor asked, hopeful and pleading with his eyes. Anything, anything to get Loki out of his room and away from his thoughts. After his defeat by the Avengers and subsequent banishment from Asgard, the younger Odinson, still a brother in Thor’s eyes, shut himself away in his new quarters for days at a time. The only sounds escaping the room were shouts of anguish, rage, or despair bleeding through the crack under the door during the night. The days were almost frighteningly silent unless Thor barged in, like that day, and initiated conversation._

_Loki narrowed his eyes at the blonde god standing before him. “And be surrounded by those that sought to kill me, and I them, mere months ago? I think not. I shall remain here tonight. If they still wish to slay me, they can find me here just as easily.”_

_“Nobody wants to kill you, Loki,” Jane’s soft voice came as a whisper from behind Thor._

_“No? They do make a good show of pretending otherwise.” His eyes burned into Jane’s. In her attempt to stare back just as intently_ _(and failing_ _), the scientist noticed something hidden behind the anger. Sadness. Loneliness. When she looked away, he waved his hand to shoo them out. “Go. I do not wish to engage with my enemies any more than is required. Leave me in peace.”_

_Defeated, Thor turned on his heel and left the room with Jane in hand. After shutting the door behind them, Loki heard the young woman say sympathetically “I don’t think he’s ever at peace in there.” When he was sure they had left the small apartment entirely, he threw the book in his lap at the far wall and pulled his hands down over his face, balling his hands into fists under his chin. Loki knew this wouldn’t be the end of their attempts to make him sociable._

\--

Loki noticed the girl shifting in her seat uncomfortably for the seventh, no—eighth  time in as many minutes. Since his last comment, Darcy sat silently across from him and now the god was waiting for her eyes to shrink to their normal size.

“Excuse me, what?” she managed to stammer.

“I came here of my own free will. I might say I was even slightly eager at the suggestion,” Loki’s smile grew as he continued,  “therefore bribery from Thor was not necessary and his delight at my agreement was no consideration of mine, if that’s what  you are asking.” He wasn’t lying, not completely anyway.

“You’re screwing with me, right?” Darcy widened those gorgeous blue eyes of hers even more. Without glasses for her to hide behind, they looked like entire galaxies could fit within them. “You’re playing a joke on me, or Thor and Jane are and you’re in on it. Because this,” she waved her hand in between them, “is just crazy. The sociopath needed a thrill, so there’s the silly intern to the rescue?” She laughed halfheartedly.

Loki’s face hardened at that and leaned in to speak with narrowed eyes, “Do you really believe that I would waste my time by participating in such an unsophisticated jest of Thor’s?” He looked angry, but his tone lacked the emotion.

Surely she didn’t believe that only a joke at her expense was the reason for his appearance at her table? He tried desperately not to think about the fact that her superior had to lie and tell the girl that she was meeting someone else in order for her to come here tonight. The memory of her disappointment and shock when he approached moments ago was burned into his mind. Months ago he would have laughed at the notion of the feelings he was experiencing. But things have changed and he was pitifully, woefully desperate for companionship. And he was very much not ready for what came out of the young intern’s mouth just then.

“You tell me, you’re the God of Mischief. It does sound pretty characteristic of you,” she retorted harshly.

As soon as the last word left her mouth Darcy knew she was going to regret it. _Oh god. Yep. There they are. The puppy eyes._ Countless times she’d fallen victim to their effect thanks to Thor, but never in a million years had she expected them from the rehabilitating felon that sat before her. His lips were parted in shock and he pulled his hands away from where they were resting on the table to slowly back away from her as much as he could while still remaining seated. Suddenly everything about Loki seemed soft, sensitive and…

Vulnerable.

If this was all just big show, she decided, he was doing a marvelous job with it. Before his demeanor would inevitably switch, as it always did, back to being neutral and impassive, Darcy quickly bent forward and grasped one of his hands. “Look, I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that. It was mean.”

Loki’s first instinct was to jerk away and out of her hold, but the warmth of both her touch and her eyes halted him. Unconsciously tilting his head in awe of her action and with lips still parted, he stared at the young mortal holding his hand. He could find none of the judgment or discomfort that had shown since their meeting earlier anywhere on her face. Her eyes now displayed only concern along with the warmth. Sentiment. He wanted to be disgusted, he wanted to push her away and run out of the restaurant. Thor be damned, but he would likely never hear the end of it if he fled now. This had been a truly terrible idea.   

As if sensing his anxiety of the current situation, Darcy patted his hand once before retreating and folding hers together under her chin.

“Can we maybe..just…start over?” she tilted her head to match his in an unconscious gesture of empathy. “I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

He inhaled deeply, appearing to roll his reply over in his mind, “I would like that, Miss Lewis.”

“Darcy, please…call me Darcy,” she  requested with a sincere smile. “Errand runner and data logger extraordinaire.”

“Darcy,” Loki began again slowly, as if he were savoring the taste of her name on his tongue, “I realize now that my reputation precedes me and it was not completely inappropriate of you to assume I was being dishonest. _”_

She waved her hand  to shush him, “Let’s just forget I said anything, I’d like to put it out there that I also take back the sociopath comment. Narcissist, though? Probably.” _With good goddamn reason, look at the man. Shut up, Darcy_

“I think I can handle that one.”

Pausing to swallow a swig of water after deciding she was going through her wine just a little too quickly, Darcy asked, “Okay, but I’ve got to know. You’re like..from another planet…realm...whatever, right? So like, did you just want to go out with anyone or did you have me in mind? Because I mean, dude,” she looked him up and down and gave an approving thumbs up, “provided that you were civil about it, I doubt you would have trouble getting anyone to kneel for you looking like that.” _Ha. I really just said that. Out loud. To the guy who sent aliens to kill us. You’re a genius, Lewis. At least it was a compliment this time._

Loki barely blinked at her rather crude assessment. “I was attracted to you, specifically,” he replied bluntly before taking a bite of his own meal. Short, sweet, to the point.  “You seemed to be the only other person in that wretched laboratory worth speaking to. The other so-called scholars are idiots and communicating with Thor and his betrothed is a tiresome endeavor. And of course there are your obvious physical attributes, all of which are highly appealing.”

Was he hitting on her? He was definitely hitting on her _. Oh yeah. Sit up a little straighter, girl. Put that chest out, girl. Woo, flaunt it! A god finds you attractive!_ Something still pricked at her though. Was talking to his brother and Lady Science really that bad?

“Thor and Jane talk to you! All the time! Well, mostly Thor. Sometimes Jane. Occasionally you even respond to them!” She really didn’t know where the line between serious talk and sarcastic jabs stood.

”Miss Foster sim-“ Loki started to reply.

“Doctor,” Darcy cut in, beaming with pride for her boss. Damn right she was ‘Doctor.’

“ _Doctor_ Foster simply ignores me most days, and when she does require anything of me she’s frightened enough to feel the need to cower behind Thor while asking me her questions.”

“Do you blame her?” Darcy pushed herself from the table to lean back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. “I mean, ninety-nine percent of the time you look like you want to rip the heads off small animals. It’s not super inviting.”

Loki closed his eyes and pursed his lips before continuing, “And Thor..oh, Thor. The oaf treats me as if I am still his kid brother, like I am fragile and need to be constantly coddled else I might break. Mi--Darcy, you intrigue me because you do none of these things. Why?” His question contained no malice, simply genuine curiosity.

It was true, while Loki hardly gave her anything more than nods or the simplest of hand gestures when she addressed him in the labs, Darcy constantly talked to him, or at him rather. Every morning she offered him coffee even though she knew what his answer would be; she asked for his input on the work she was doing, and always gave a cheerful ‘thank you!’ when he would grumble an answer. Being alone with him, however, was something very new to her that she had been completely unprepared to deal with. She started fidgeting in her seat again, trying to figure out how to word her response. Twisting her fork in her pasta she answered, “I just figure that if everyone’s going to either treat you like the boogeyman or on the flipside, a toddler, then you’re going to act like one or the other eventually.” After pausing to shovel a forkful into her mouth and swallowing, she added with a smirk, “For the record, I’d prefer the boogeyman, I hate kids that aren’t related to me.”

Her last expression managed merited a chuckle from the god, much to Darcy’s relief because he seemed to blanch a little when she first mentioned the boogeyman. “I assure you that if they stood in front of you, that you’d reach for the child before the monster,” Loki quipped.  He was making light of it, but Darcy knew it was time to talk about something else.

“Okay this might be way out of line and is definitely off-topic but, how in the hell did anyone convince SHIELD to let you out of their sight?” She asked, honestly wanting to know, sudden intentional subject change aside. “Can supervillains just waltz around lower Manhattan now? Is that a thing that’s happening? Their security must be really lacking lately or all the Avengers went on vacation at the same time,” she laughed.  Though, without looking around she knew that eyes were falling on them and the restaurant’s other patrons were starting to recognize the raven-haired deity sitting across from her. She blushed, knowing  that her loud mouth had no place in this conversation. Getting kicked out of a restaurant with Loki and possibly (probably) having the cops called on them was so not something she wanted to explain to everyone in the morning.

“Ah,” Loki began, motioning for her to look under the table as he discreetly pulled up his right pant leg to reveal a blinking ankle monitor. “I am under restrictions. I have also been told that should I try to remove the blasted thing they will be notified immediately. I assure you that you are quite safe.”

“They’ve got you on modified house arrest, huh? Where are your boundaries?” She briefly pondered whether or not it meant she was truly safe. Just because an alarm sounded somewhere within SHIELD, it didn’t mean they could catch him if he did anything, he may have been without his powers but he was still a fucking god. But her thoughts quickly set off down a different path. Could they make it to the froyo place down the street? _And would he pay? ‘Cause I’m out of money after dinner. That’s really the most important question here._

Bringing Darcy out of her mind’s ramblings, Loki responded, “I believe I may not travel further than a few blocks’ radius of the facility and I must be within my quarters  by midnight tonight.”

“Or you turn into a pumpkin?” Darcy blurted out, a sudden gleeful look spread across her face. Not noticing his arched eyebrow, she continued, “you know…like in Cinderella? Can I call you Cinderloki?” She winced at the word and shook her head. “Nope, nevermind. I don’t like that at all. We’ll come up with a better nickname for you.” _Do I always talk this much when I get nervous? God, Darce you really are such a damn spaz. You’re twenty-three years old for fuck’s sake, get a grip._

There was not an eyeroll dramatic enough to convey how he felt about nicknames, so instead Loki ignored her last statement and responded, “I believe it was not the girl, but rather her stagecoach that returned to the form of a pumpkin, was it not?”

“Wait, you know Cinderella?” She couldn’t believe it. Surely the works of Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm hadn’t made it to Asgard.

“Of course, Thor and Jane have tormented me with many ‘movie nights’ featuring these animated films by your Walt Disney. Most have been utterly insufferable. However, I did find the Lion King rather enjoyable, until the end of course. Scar was a most impressive character.” Disney! How could Darcy not have thought about Jane’s almost obsessive need to collect Disney movies? Probably because the idea of Loki spending any time with her boss outside the lab was laughable at best.

“Yeah, you _would_ think that. I can’t believe Jane let you watch that one!” Darcy giggled, “you’re not supposed to like the bad guy!”

“This is coming  from the woman dining and laughing with one,” Loki remarked, with a hint of seriousness at the end, like he needed to remind her exactly who he was and what he’s done.

“Nah, the real bad guys don’t enjoy Disney movies. Or loudmouthed interns.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small semblance of plot will appear in the next few chapters, but this story will remain relatively light and fluffy [ with eventual smut of course]. I really wanted the restaurant scene to span two chapters, but starting now things will move at less snail-like pace. Please tell me if I am getting out of character at all, I feel like I really started to push it with this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had tried to make the evening as pleasant as possible for her, but now Loki sat alone, bewildered, and covered nose to waist in high-end red wine. All he had done was comment on her work with the scientists. Wine dripped from his nose and he could feel the eyes from the other patrons burn into him. This couldn’t have happened, right? Midgardians considered him and Thor to be gods, immortals, demanding of respect, and that little child had the gall to make a scene in the middle of this establishment and then storm off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before or not but in this fic Loki does not have access to any of his magic.
> 
> unbeta’d, all mistakes and extra commas are mine. everything in the marvel universe is not mine.

Darcy was having a good time. A _wonderful_ time. The harsh reality of whose company she was enjoying only crept into her thoughts once or twice. Okay, a few more times than that, but continuous sips of the most expensive wine on the menu mostly kept that nagging feeling at bay. Loki had insisted on ordering it, probably because after tasting what had been brought to the table earlier, he made a face of pure repulsion and immediately declared it ‘swill.’ She couldn’t complain, whatever he had the waiter bring them tasted divine and made her feel warm and fuzzy. The two bounced from topic to topic with growing ease; starting with her university studies and moving through to Darcy promising to loan him her blu-rays of True Blood. She did notice, however, that when the conversation landed on him, he always found a way to steer the focus back onto herself.

Then everything went downhill. She couldn’t believe the next words that came out of his mouth. Well, she could, he was a villain after all. Honestly, she didn’t even feel herself stand up and thrust her wine glass forward.

\--

The petite astrophysicist pushed her reading glasses up, scrutinizing the page of charts and equations in her lap. Jane was sitting up in bed, propped against the headboard with papers strewn all around her.

“My darling, do you never relax away from your work?” Thor questioned as he handed over a cup of cocoa and slid under the covers to sit next to her.

“You’ve been living with me for months now, I think you know the answer to that question,” she replied, barely looking up, but grabbing the warm mug from his grip. Sparing a moment from her calculations, she wrapped her free arm around her lover’s massive form before the voice of Stark’s AI interrupted their moment.

“Excuse me, Doctor Foster. There has been a security breach and Mr. Odinson’s presence is requested immediately in the main conference room at SHIELD.”

“Security bre—Thor! Did you forget to tell everyone something very _important_ about tonight? Like Loki not being where they think he’s supposed to be?”

“I did not want anybody else to find out about it, I thought the team would pester my brother if they knew! They prick at him enough as it is. Is it not bad enough that the Iron Man had to know?”

“You know, yeah, you’d think he would blab to everyone,” Jane began, “but still, Loki is considered a prisoner, even now…”

Jane had mostly, and somewhat foolishly she now supposed, been under the assumption that if Tony didn’t inform Fury beforehand, that JARVIS would. After all, wasn’t he constantly monitoring all Tower activity? She really had no idea of the extent of the AI’s surveillance or the alert system, but now it seemed they had some explaining to do.

She sighed, “JARVIS, please inform the appropriate party of Loki’s location from the coordinates on his GPS.”

“Already done, Doctor. Director Fury requested that information at the sounding of the first alarm.”

“Thank you, JARVIS,” Thor piped up. “See, Jane? They know exactly where he is!”

“Yeah. _Now_ they do. You’d better get going, I’m starting to get the feeling this is something we might have wanted to ask permission for first.”

\--

She swung her handbag hastily over her shoulder after setting her now empty glass back onto the table. “Fuck you,” she muttered. Without another glance back at the shaken god, Darcy stomped toward the entrance of the restaurant and reassuring herself against Loki’s insults. _Nobody makes me feel bad about my work with Jane. I’m not an idiot, and I do more than get coffee and surf Facebook. She appreciates me and that’s all that matters._

She was very aware of how most of SHIELD saw her, and she knew if it hadn’t been for Jane’s demanding that her intern remain at her side, Darcy would’ve been issued gag orders right before being  booted out of the plane that flew them to the fancy new lab in New York. She knew she was considered dead weight. ‘Non-essential personnel’ was the term they threw around. But she was also spending a lot of her time at home trying to learn all this new stuff so that maybe she could have a work-related talk with Jane that wasn’t entirely one-sided. Eventually, she hoped, she would become _very_ essential personnel.

She buttoned up her coat as she walked, more thoughts flooding her mind. _He had to go and pick the sorest subject, didn’t he. It’s not like I brought up his family or whatever a Jotunn is! What the hell, man._ As soon as she shoved the door open and felt the brisk winter chill on her  face, Agents Romanov and Barton emerged from what seemed to be thin air.

“Are you absolutely insane?” the archer questioned  furiously of a now startled Darcy. “That guy is seriously dangerous, and you decided not to tell anyone you were going out into the city with him? It’s like you have a death wish or something.”

 “Have you been watching m--wait, nobody knew?” Darcy furrowed her brows in confusion. “Loki said Thor told him he’d be closely monitored, and he showed me his little…parole anklet thing.” She could only assume that HQ must’ve been in a total uproar right then.

“And you believed him? What is he the god of again, Lewis?” he barked.

Natasha laid a hand on Clint’s shoulder in a ‘stay calm’ gesture. Both women were aware, the Black Widow to an obvious further extent, of Barton’s not-so-subtle feelings of animosity toward Loki.  “Sorry, sorry, I’ll cool it. But we need to know what you were doing here with him.”

Running her hands through her hair, exasperated,  Darcy answered, “It was a date, okay?” Their matching cocked eyebrows told her that she needed to elaborate, and to do it quickly. “ For the record, I didn’t know it was going to be him! I-I thought I was meeting an agent! Jane set me up, you know? It was actually going pretty well until just now, so I dumped my wine on him and left his ass in there.”

Natasha turned her full attention from Clint back to Darcy, a brief look of concern flashed across her features before she resumed her normal stoic expression. “But he didn’t hurt you? Did he say anything—“

“Nefarious? Incriminating? Duh, it’s Loki,” she cut off. He hadn’t, but Darcy wasn’t feeling too warm toward him at the moment. She almost wanted him to get in big trouble for getting caught outside. More than anything though, she just wanted to be left alone.

Natasha pursed her lips and began again, “Anything suspicious? It’s not really the time for sarcasm, Lewis.”

Darcy shifted her gaze toward one of the restaurant windows that was near where she had been sitting inside. She breathed in deeply and shut her eyes. “No. Nothing. He was just a jerk, that’s all.” She brushed past the two of them and threw a hand up in a small wave as she walked away.

Looking as if it were the last thing on earth he wanted to do, Agent Barton raised a hand to his ear. “Stand down,” he ordered into his headset, “the situation is under control.” With that, the two agents entered the restaurant to retrieve the ‘missing’ deity.

\--

Message Received 9:13 pm

From: Darce

I hate you right now.

\--

Darcy quickly left for her apartment within Stark Tower, not wanting to think any more about that night’s events and definitely not wanting to run into anyone who might be feeling curious on her way up. She briefly thanked the powers that be that it was Friday night and therefore rather empty, and scurried into the elevator.  After realizing she was now very sober, _thanks god of moment killers_ , she decided the best place to clear her mind would be the gym. She’d skipped her daily workout three times in a row and thought both her body and mind could use the distraction. Arriving in her room and switching out her skirt and heels for cotton shorts and sneakers, she shoved her sports bra and a Gatorade into her bag and headed out once more into the night.

She knew she could just as well use the facilities in the Tower, god knows they were state-of-the-fucking-art. But the chance of seeing any familiar work people during her off hours, and especially right now, was pretty far from her idea of a good time. What did sound like a good time was sweating her ass off to some techno music in solitude. Though despite her best efforts, after three songs and more squats than her thighs wanted to remember, her thoughts, however unwillingly, drifted back to Loki. Loki with his flawless cheekbones and his perfect smile.  She had to stop thinking about him physically, damnit. Did she overreact by leaving? Probably a little, but it wasn’t like she had actually _wanted_ to be there in the first place. Was she too harsh? No, she was probably the most candid, straight-talking person ever, but still she didn’t just outright insult someone like that. Okay, she kind of did.  But he had forgiven her she thought and their night got so much better! She was so confused, she wanted to know what his play was here and it would’ve been a lot easier if she stopped thinking about how delicious the damned Lord of Chaos or whatever he called himself looked drenched in wine. Good enough to lick. But she was still upset. Really. Wasn’t she?

\--

The next day,  Loki paced the length of his kitchenette, his Stark-issued mobile phone clutched tightly in his hand. He had been in debriefings all night and most of the morning with Thor, attempting to convince the Director of the harmlessness of last night’s ‘little stunt,’ as Fury had called it. Those meetings always took such a long time, especially when trying to prove his own innocence. As it turned out, SHIELD was still very reluctant to believe he was not a threat. Miraculously, it seemed the majority of the consequences along with the brunt of the blame, had fallen on the Thunder God this time for orchestrating the entire thing instead of himself. He suffered merely an increase to his video surveillance, which was now to include his personal quarters and anywhere inside the Tower. Previously, only his activities within the adjacent SHIELD facility that housed the research laboratories were recorded. Their conference with Director Fury and a handful of other higher-ups was cut short when a growing threat that had been being monitored upstate decided to make a move. Thor was excused and left to assemble with the other Avengers, and so Loki, who they had determined had done nothing terribly awful the previous evening, was quickly dismissed as well.

Now he was back in his apartment, and he was hungry. He grudgingly accepted how dependent upon Thor he had become as of late. Particularly in regards to his meals. Loki supposed it was his own fault, really. By outright refusing to dine in any of the eateries the Tower boasted, his food choices were very limited. Thor had graciously, he admitted, taken it upon himself to deliver three meals per day to his room. Usually it was a portion of whatever he and Jane had prepared for themselves, but Loki had also acquired a taste for the Thai cuisine that occasionally showed up. With Thor now off on the first real mission his team had had since the Mischief God’s unfortunate failure, and the astrophysicist assumedly buried in her work, he had been left to fend for himself for the first time.

His stomach grumbled, yanking him from his thoughts. Loki sighed, running a hand through his hair, slicking it back and stared at the contents of his small pantry. This was one of the only times he’d opened it  in all of his time there. It was stocked sparsely, mostly snacks and junk food he had yet to touch. It was his brother’s handiwork, but Jane did throw in a few boxes of what she called ‘quick meals’ that were probably for just an occasion such as this, but yet they required more ingredients that he did not have on hand. It appeared to him that he had two options: he could ‘suck it up’ as they say and simply eat downstairs where he would surely be subjected to the prying eyes of every other person surrounding him, supposing they did not all run away. He also risked possibly being poisoned by a server with a grudge. Alternatively, he could simply refrain from eating until Thor returned. But who knew when that would be? _I am truly pathetic._ He shook his head at how lowly he had sunk, then placed his phone to his ear to ring up reluctant-option-number-three.

\--

Darcy groaned as she awoke and started rolling over to turn away from the sunlight pouring into her bedroom. She immediately regretted the decision and cursed herself for pushing her body too far last night after several days of almost no physical activity. Surely being blinded by the sun seeping through her eyelids would be less painful than attempting to move again.  When even bringing her arm up to shield her face proved too strenuous, all she could manage was a miserable whimper.  When her phone began to ring and an unknown number showed up on the display, she could only groan louder. 

“Alright, body, let’s do this,” she grumbled and picked up the device. “Hello?” she answered with sleep heavy on her voice, “And do you have any idea what time it is?”

Much to her surprise and dismay, it was Loki’s voice that cracked through the receiver. “Yes, it is a quarter past twelve noon.”

“Ugh, what do you want? I’m not really in the mood to talk to you, by the way.”

“I….” he hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with what he was about to say, “I...require your assistance.”

“Why me?” Darcy whined. “Can’t Thor help you with whatever it is? I have plans. Sleepy plans.”

“He is elsewhere at the moment.”

There weren’t enough groans resting inside her to keep this conversation going, so she gave in. “You have a coffee maker at your place?” she grumbled.

“Yes,” Loki answered, after a brief scan of his countertop verified this.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Darcy wasn’t even sure if she was allowed access to Loki’s space. She figured it would have a body scanner and all kinds of strange Stark-gizmos to keep him in and pretty much everyone else out. After struggling to sit up and search for something to wear besides just the underwear she slept in, she got confirmation from JARVIS of her surprisingly high, for an intern, clearance and therefore access to Mister Mischief’s apartment.  She stuffed her taser in her back pocket and grabbed her ID badge, mostly out of habit, but also because of a brief moment of trepidation when she determined that if he decided to go evil and  take and ax to her face or something equally gruesome that somebody could identify her. Although the taser probably could do that too, she mused.

When Darcy arrived at Loki’s door, she had barely raised her hand to knock before he pulled it open and gestured for her to come inside.

Being led to the kitchen area, Darcy took in his change in appearance. He looked disheveled, as if he’d been kept up all night. He probably had, she thought. She assumed SHIELD had interrogated him or something after she left last night. If she wasn’t careful she was about to start feeling sorry for him. His eyes were tired and  he was wearing what looked to be the closest thing Asgard had to sweatpants and a light cotton shirt. To her surprise, he didn’t have on a single stitch of green or black. It was sort of unsettling to see him instead in light grey and white. “So...uh...what’s up, big guy? What’s your emergency that warranted getting me out of bed?” 

 “I want to cook something to eat, however I lack the needed ingredients.” He really didn’t want to add that he had no idea how to turn on the gas stovetop either.

Darcy grabbed the box that was sitting on the countertop and looked it over. “This? So, what? You need milk and butter…you’re telling me you don’t have basics? What do you even have in your fri—“ she cut herself off mid-sentence when she peered inside his refrigerator to find a few assorted bottles of wine and nothing else. “Damn, it looks like my freshman year dorm room,” she snorted.

Loki just raised an annoyed eyebrow in response.

“So you’d like me to go to the grocery store for you?” she asked, finally putting it together. He nodded. “What, they won’t let you buy yourself food?”

“Would _you_ let me out in public?” Loki retorted, irritated. He was starting to wonder if perhaps this was a bad idea.

“Okay, point,” Darcy replied, now busying herself by scouring through his pantry, “it looks like you could use a bunch of stuff. Most of this is expired anyway.” She pulled away and put her face in her hands. After a few moments and a long exhale she continued. “Okay. I’ll go to the store. But this isn’t a truce, and I’m still really upset about what you said.”

“Understood.” Loki kept a blank expression, desperately trying to hide how pleased he was that she didn’t simply tell him to eat downstairs in one of the cafeterias and leave.

She started to head towards the door with a mental note of what she needed to get, but Loki’s voice stopped her in the threshold.

“Darcy,” he paused, “thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with me on this!! I know it wasn't my best chapter but I swear it will get better.
> 
> My first draft of this chapter turned into something a lot heavier/more sinister than originally intended and after much, much deliberation and re-writing, I have brought it back to something fluffier and that I’m happier with. At the end of this, I may write an AU version [a fic of my own fic, if you will] depending on whether there’d be demand for it or not.
> 
> It doesn’t matter the specifics of what Loki said to Darcy in the restaurant, just assume that he implied she was no more than Jane’s pet, but not actually useful or smart. honestly I couldn’t come up with a good dialogue exchange that flowed in my head so you all get the freedom of having Loki insult her however you want :D
> 
> I swear it’ll start getting cute again in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I’d just like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has left comments, kudos, and bookmarked this. It means the world you me, you guys are the best . Thanks for sticking with me!
> 
> Unbeta’d. All mistakes and extra commas are mine, but nothing in the Marvel Universe is.

Darcy plodded her way through the lobby of Stark Tower, several heavy plastic bags hanging from each arm. Her muscles were still aching but she told herself  if she was able to make it up their stairs from the parking garage, that her screaming thighs weren’t going to stop her from reaching the elevator now. She was so distracted by the little pep talk she was giving herself, that she nearly jumped out of her skin when someone came alongside her and snatched the bags from her left hand.

“Here, let me help with that,” they lifted the bags away from her and pressed the call button next to the elevator.

“Oh my god! Don’t scare me like that!” Darcy whipped her head around to face them and her eyes widened in shock. “Oh shi—sorry, Mr. Stark. I-I-“

He raised a hand to silence the poor girl. “No worries, kid. And no need to be formal,  it’s Tony. ”

She’d never spoken to him before. In fact, she’d really only seen him on television or passing through the halls, which was pretty rare now that he spent a lot of his time in California. Aside from the one Avengers team meeting Jane had snuck her into once, this was the first time they’d been in the same room. Her boss was much more acquainted with him since they both loved to do science together instead of sleep at night. Now here she was, sharing an elevator with Tony Motherfucking Stark: Gazillionaire and Superhero. 

“You are free to resume normal breathing patterns at any time, Lewis.”

Oh god, he knew who she was. _Respond, quick! Say something!_ She blew a stream of air out of her mouth to relax herself. “Thanks,” she said, cursing herself for her sudden muteness.

“So…are you feeding a small country or are you having a party? In which case, am I invited?” he inquired, “Scratch that, it’s my building. I’ll invite myself. By the way, how was your date with tall, dark, and evil last night?”

The man talked almost as much as she did. Or, as much as she normally did.

“I..er..no. I’m not having a party. Heh,” she snorted, “I wish though.” Wincing at the thought of her next question, she went on, “so who all knows about last night?”

“I knew from the beginning, kiddo. Who do you think made the gps monitor? And Muscles told everyone else later last night. Seriously, how’d it go? Flowers? Romantic movie? Spilling plans of death and destruction over a glass of chardonnay?”

If she rolled her eyes any further, Darcy was sure she’d see her brain.  “It was okay, I guess. I wish the guy I thought was coming had shown up instead, though. It probably would’ve ended a lot better.”

“You didn’t know? Oh, that is priceless. I love it.”

“Yeah. Priceless. Having my job belittled and then being interrogated by the wonder twins is _so_ not how I like my dates to go,” she huffed.

“Okay. That’s my bad. I was curious about what SHIELD would do. What he would do. If they’d let him be and just observe or go straight in for the kill, so to speak.”

“Right. Because the intern’s safety doesn’t matter. I forgot. Hilarious.” Sarcasm dripped from her words as the elevator dinged on her intended floor. She hastily grabbed the bags from Stark’s hand and walked out silently when the doors opened.

Tony noted with curious amusement  the fact that they had landed on a near-empty floor containing only one specific apartment.

\--

Loki busied himself examining and putting away the contents of the many, many _why were there so many_ sacks that now littered his countertops. He stopped when he came to a package containing glass bottles filled with a bright pink liquid. “What are these?” he asked, his eyes scanning the label.

Darcy looked up from the skillet of ground beef she had started browning. “Mike’s Hard. It’s strawberry lemonade with alcohol in it. They’re mostly for me, because if I’m going to be spending my afternoon here cooking with Public Enemy Number One, I’m going to need a little buzz.” She reached over and gingerly plucked one from the cardboard container. Loki tried not to stare as she opened it and took a long sip. He thought maybe he should feel hurt that she needed herself to be inebriated to remain in his company, but he was not at all surprised really. While she was preoccupied with her nectar, he stepped out of the kitchen.

Darcy hardly noticed him leave, she was too busy savoring the taste of the sweet elixir. When Loki returned, Darcy had begun adding the small package of noodles to the skillet. “Come here and I’ll show you how to measure the milk and stuff.” She reached into the fridge and grabbed the gallon jug. “I really can’t believe you’ve never done this before,” she smirked.

“I was royalty, we didn’t prepare food. We ate it,” he said matter-of-factly. “Before I do that, let me reimburse you for what you’ve bought.” He flipped through a small stack of bills in his hand.

“Don’t worry about it. You paid for what I assume was a very expensive dinner,” she answered and waved a hand in dismissal.

“Does that make this an apology, Darcy?”

“Not at all, you were still a jerk. Like I said, this isn’t a truce,” she replied and tugged at his shirt sleeve. “Now seriously, come here. The first rule of cooking is to not get distracted by non-cooking things or you end up with burnt food and unhappy housemates.”

Loki stepped closer and took the measuring cup she held out to him. “I don’t have housemates,” he stated plainly.

“Then I guess you’ll only get to disappoint yourself,” she retorted with a grin.

Loki was so used to everyone there either avoiding or antagonizing him. They had good reason, of course and it was generally preferable to Thor’s constant attempts to reconcile and turn him into a tamed and pacified version of himself.  But Darcy seemed to be mostly at ease around him, even though she also frequently indicated that she didn’t really want to be there. The girl was a mystery to him although he had yet to regret both of his decisions in choosing her company.

He was not at all comfortable with how utterly dependent he must have seemed. Sure, he had grown accustomed to, and perhaps he might even say he excelled at  using the myriad pieces of Midgardian technology now available to him. That was true, but in essence it wasn’t altogether much more advanced than anything that could be found on Asgard or the other realms. It was simply different, and different was something he could handle. Different was easy. The God of Chaos was nothing if not adaptable. However, when it came down to anything involving food preparation for whatever reason, he was suddenly in a completely unfamiliar and untraversed territory. Under normal circumstances he would simply utter a spell and a meal would be instantly cast before him. Suffice it to say, he was growing weary of being without any powers.

\--

After successfully teaching Loki the difference between dry and liquid measuring cups and what it meant to simmer something versus boil, Darcy was glad the back of the Hamburger Helper box read ‘satisfaction guaranteed’ and that their end result was edible, because she could tell the god was growing more and more aggravated.

“I know what boiling water looks like, I am not a child,” Loki spat.

“Okay. Then I suppose I can leave. Enjoy your lunch,” she responded and turned toward the front hallway.

“Wait,” he commanded with a hint of desperation, “will you not eat with me? Surely you do not think I can finish all this by myself.”

Darcy let a smile crack and said as she moved toward the cabinet of dishware, “That’s true. For him we’d need another box.”

Loki was still uneasy about accepting help for what must have been such a simple task for Midgardians; but when he expressed this to Darcy and demanded as politely as he was able that she not speak of this to anyone, her response lacked any of the mocking or scorn he had anticipated. He shouldn’t have been shocked. The girl could be crass and blunt to a fault, but she was hardly ever outright cruel.

“Pfff, forget about it,” she said, “ I taught Jane how to scramble eggs. Now she’s making lasagna and everything. Everybody’s got to start somewhere. She burns things every now and then,” Darcy recalled her phone conversation with the scientist the night before, “but I’m sure so does Gordon Ramsay. Still, I won’t blab to anyone if you don’t want me to, promise.”

They sat at the small bar and munched on their successful attempt at cheeseburger macaroni. Well, he sat while Darcy stood opposite him leaning on one elbow and twirled her fork absentmindedly around her bowl with her other hand.  She supposed if anyone asked  why she was there she could tell them she’d been tricked this time too. But there was a part of her that didn’t mind so much.

Was she really enjoying his company? Nope. No she wasn’t. She was happy about his culinary accomplishment, that’s all. Plus, who doesn’t love cheese, noodles, and beef? The more she thought about how content she was, the more uncomfortable it made her. The nagging feeling she fought so hard to bury last night was bubbling to the surface. That, and her annoyance with Jane. This would only prove that her little game worked, or whatever it was that she tried to pull.

There was a sudden heavy knock on the door, but before either of them could move to answer it Thor burst into the room with his usual enthusiasm.

“Hello!” he greeted and scanned the room, taking in the messy stovetop and cooking utensils  in the sink. “Miss Darcy!” he boomed, landing his sight on her.

“Hey, Thor,” she greeted in kind, standing to wash out her bowl in the sink. She dried her hands and walked over to the buff blonde to give a small hug. Loki was absolutely certain he heard her mutter “thank god.” To his dismay, immediately after the embrace  Darcy headed straight for the door. “So, uh...bye, Loki.” She waved quickly and took off toward the elevator.

 --

“Tony, this would be a whole lot easier if you just came over here.” Jane’s head poked up from behind the giant device she was currently pounding on. Speaking once more to the screen on the wall she said, “you know I’m good with the equations and formulas  and  you’re better than me at the physical implementation,” she paused to grunt at the force needed to keep turning her screwdriver. “So please help me figure out what’s wrong.”

“That’s how you do it, you stroke my ego. I’ll be up in five,” the Iron Man joked.

Jane rolled her eyes as the video cut out. She walked over to the sink to wash the grease from her hands when Tony sauntered into the lab with his usual relaxed gait. “That wasn’t five minutes. Don’t even give a girl time to prepare. Can JARVIS teleport you between buildings  now or something?” she commented on his sudden arrival. She turned back to the table that separated them and pushed a large page of diagrams and equations  in his direction. He grabbed the piece of paper and studied it before speaking.

“So you’re using this,” he turned and prodded the machine Jane had focused all of her attention on that day, “to implement this theory?” he shook the paper in his hand.  “And these diagrams…”

“Are all correctly scaled! My calculations are spot on. You can double check if you want, but I know it’s right.” Jane cut in.

“I’m not arguing that, but you know I’m not really an expert in astrophysics,”  he responded.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the exact opposite of what you’ve said about yourself before. Besides, I don’t need another physicist. I need a mechanic. That’s you,” Jane said, pointing at him.

Despite trying her hardest to shut the door behind her as quietly as possible, when metal hit metal there was a heavy thud that announced Darcy’s presence to both figures in the laboratory.

“Eek, sorry,” she mumbled, “Jane, I need to—“

“Darcy, what are you doing here? It’s Saturday, go home.” Jane made shooing motions with her hands.

Darcy replied, “No, I really need to talk to you,” as she grabbed Jane by the arm, leading her to the small bathroom and locked the door behind them.

“And I’ll just stay right here, being ignored!” Tony shouted.

Jane rolled her eyes for a second time at Stark’s voice. “What is this about?  We’re kind of in the middle of something.”

“Why did you set me up with Loki?” Darcy asked bluntly.

“What? Why? Did he do something?”

“It’s not about him, really. Answer the question please. Why did you set me up? Why did you tell me I was meeting someone else? Why did you _trick_ me?”

“We just thought he needed to get out,” Jane shrugged. “And he wasn’t having  any of Thor’s ideas, so I brought up the idea of dinner out with someone other than the two of us. We didn’t think you’d go along with it, though.”

“So you lied to me,” Darcy hissed, “and then laughed about it when I called you!”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. You love surprises. Look, I’m really busy he--”

“It’s like you don’t even remember who he is, Jane! What if something had happened?”

“It wasn’t our idea,” the scientist blurted out. “You, I mean.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“Loki…he mentioned you first,” Jane shifted her weight and closed her eyes. “Thor and I talked about it and decided that with help from Tony we could make it safe. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

“And you just decided not to tell me? You could’ve said no to him! You could’ve not _made someone up_! Next time you involve me in anything regarding the God of fucking Lies and Killing People, give me a damn heads up, okay?” Darcy left the bathroom and exited the lab, making sure to slam the door behind her. She was tired of being manipulated. It didn’t matter by whom, she wanted it to stop. Any decisions she made from this point on were going to be her own.

\--

Thor took it upon himself to fill a bowl with what was left of the lunch that had been prepared. He sat down in the chair next to Loki and took a few bites before he said, “You never did tell me what happened last night.”

“I may have offended her,” Loki replied, staring straight ahead.

Thor turned to his brother and quirked a brow.

“Alright,” Loki said and threw his hands up. “ I definitely offended her. Evidently comparing her intelligence to that of your betrothed is something she finds upsetting. I only wanted to know how it came to be that someone as accomplished as Jane relied on someone like her as much as she does. I did not _intend_ it as an insult.”

“You truly do not know a single thing about Midgardians, brother.”

“And why should I?” Loki defended. He stood and began pacing as he usually did when agitated or contemplating something.  “What have they ever had to offer the other realms? Nothing. Why should I care to understand them?” He asked this of Thor, and more importantly in that moment, of himself. Why _did_  this mortal in particular mean anything to him?

“That is exactly the point, Loki. Sometimes it is not about what they have to offer you. If you really didn’t care for them as you say,  you would not have been so pleased when….” Thor’s lips formed a small grin. “Or shall I say eager? You like her. More than you originally let on.”

There was a lengthy pause before Loki tore his gaze from the doorway through which Darcy had exited moments before and answered, “it matters not. She doesn’t care for me.”

“How can you know that for certain?” Thor questioned.

“You saw how quickly she left here! She would not stay a minute longer than needed, now that you have returned.” Loki sat back down and the two finished their meal in silence.

\--

To say that the following workweek was tense would’ve been an enormous understatement. Darcy continued to fulfill her duties while simultaneously avoiding verbal communication with her superior. It was only when Thor came down during  lunchtime every day that she removed her earbuds and relaxed over a bowl of ramen.

She found that it was difficult to harbor any negative feelings toward the God of Thunder at the moment. In her head, she just couldn’t picture him trying to deceive her. Or anyone, for that matter. She assumed that growing up with a mischief-maker-slash-liesmith for a brother had made Thor the opposite, essentially.  Someone opposed to tricks. Or maybe she had just been so upset with Jane over the weekend that she was out of energy to deal with being angry at anyone else.

On Tuesday morning, the lab got a visit from Doctor Banner, who Darcy warmly welcomed with coffee and his favorite kind of bagel.  She had grown friendly with the good doctor, though he tended to show up rather sporadically. Bruce had said once that despite her highly energetic nature, Darcy’s presence had a very calming effect on him, which gave the intern one of the biggest self-esteem boosts of her life.  A visit from him proved to be a distraction she, along with everyone else in the lab,  sorely needed.

Loki’s behavior altered very little from what it had been in the weeks before their dinner. He was speaking to her even less than he had before that weekend though, if it was at all possible. Darcy couldn’t tell if he was more irritated than usual or if he only seemed that way because now she had actually seen him in a relaxed state.

When Wednesday rolled around and she was informed that most of the science team and the Avengers, including Jane and Banner, would be heading to London on Friday morning to meet with a group of European physicists about a breakthrough in their collective research, she opted to stay home. Not because she didn’t want to see England, but because when Jane brought it up she said she ‘didn’t have to go, they won’t really need---it’s not essential that you be there.’ Essential. There was that word again. Fine, she had told her. It was the perfect excuse to visit her parents in New Jersey for the weekend. _See who will make your coffee in a world full of tea._ Darcy tried not to be bitter, it wasn’t like her. Always the optimist, they said. But she hardly felt that way lately.      

When she found out Loki would not be joining them either, as he was still too much of a flight and security risk, she was hit with an idea.

The next evening, the night  before everyone else was to fly out, Darcy rode the elevator up to Loki’s floor clinging a small bundle wrapped in dark green paper to her chest. When she exited, she tiptoed as quietly as she could to his door. Placing the package to rest against the frame, she knocked loudly before scurrying down the hallway and around a corner. She wasn’t quite sure why she decided to hide, as he’d definitely know she couldn’t make it to the elevator before he opened the door.

As she’d expected, seconds after concealing herself, she heard his door open and the rustling of the paper wrappings.

\--

Loki didn’t see anyone through the peephole on his door, but he _had_ heard someone. When he stepped into the hallway, he could still hear the light patter of quick footsteps heading away from him. He looked around and finally down,  to find a small green parcel with a pink sticky note attached to it.

_Loki,_

_I thought maybe this could help you over the weekend while everyone is away._

_—Darcy_

He tore the paper away to reveal a hardcover titled _How to Cook Everything The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food._ He pondered the implication of this little ‘gift’ before assuming she had the least favorable of intentions.

 “I refuse to be your little project, Miss Lewis,” Loki called down the hallway.

She sighed from around the corner and said, “I thought I told you to call me Darcy.”

“Do you think me helpless, _Darcy_?” he questioned with an exaggerated bitterness

“That’s what you think the book is about? That’s the opposite of why I gave it to you.” she marched back toward his doorway and stopped when she was standing directly in front of him. “Look, I know how independent you like to be, and I thought maybe you’d enjoy being able to teach yourself stuff on your own. That way you _won’t_ be helpless, and you don’t have to call me again. You won’t need me, or anyone. But if you don’t want it I’ll just return it.” She reached out to take the book back from him, but Loki raised his hand up out of her reach.

“No. I do,” he paused to choose his next words with care. “However, I take offense to the notion that I would cease contact with you. I rather enjoy our interactions.” He brought his arm down and flipped the book between his hands. “And if I recall, you owe me a _True Blood_ marathon.”

Darcy laughed for the first time in what felt like days. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Note to Gordon Ramsay: I’m sure you don’t burn food. Please don’t sue me for slander.)
> 
> Also: Bruce’s favorite bagel is onion, toasted, with garden vegetable cream cheese, if anyone cares about my random headcanons.
> 
> It might feel like Darcy was overreacting in this chapter, but if you’ve ever been used by someone, you know the hurt runs deep even for what seems like a small incident.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loving the response! You all continue to be awesome. <3 
> 
> A plot bunny ran away from me, and I’ve decided to chase it. I’m having way too much fun here. The rest of this fic, starting with ch. 6, will go through the events of The Dark World, with obvious deviations from canon. 
> 
> Unbeta’d, all mistakes, extra commas, and adverbs are mine, but sadly nothing from the Marvel Universe is.

Darcy shoved the refrigerator door shut with her hip, a bottle of Mike’s in each hand, and made her way back to Loki’s living room. She set one bottle down on the coffee table and slid it toward him across the glass surface. 

“Yo jerkface, heads up,” she said, twisting open her own.

Loki sighed. “There has been nothing but a stream of abuses and childish name-calling  leaving your mouth this entire evening,” he replied and looked up from the deck of cards he was shuffling. Originally their plan had been to begin watching the vampire drama Darcy wouldn’t shut up about, but after a search of her apartment ended fruitlessly, a deck of cards became the evening’s entertainment.

“That’s only because you’re a dirty cheater.” Darcy sat down cross-legged opposite him, smirking. He raised a hand to his chest in mock offense and mouthed ‘who, me?’

Their last round of Gin had _not_ ended well, with Darcy throwing her hand to the floor while shrieking obscenities and then declaring loudly that she needed a drink. “There’s no way you can be that good at this game, I only just taught you! Therefore, I’ve concluded that you’re cheating.” As she took another sip from her bottle, her phone buzzed on the table, announcing a text message from her boss.

“Ugh,” Darcy groaned and pushed her phone face down away from her. “Not really a conversation I want to have tonight.” Loki was already dealing out the deck for their next match, but quirked a brow in semi-interest.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not really speaking to Jane right now.”

“I am certain the entire facility is aware,” Loki spoke of the SHIELD staff not being blind to the girl’s  sudden and rather juvenile cold-shoulder campaign that week. Undoubtedly she was still upset about being set up with him without a warning of any kind. He presumed that even disregarding his harsh comment at dinner, she was feeling pathetic about her station.

“You are a fool if you don’t see how much she values you.” he muttered after a long silence, avoiding eye contact with her. Darcy stared at him anyway. _How did he know…? Did he just? Did he defend Jane?_ He rolled his eyes as if his meaning were obvious. “Doctor Foster may grow frustrated sometimes at your lack of knowledge in her field, however, you should be aware of the lengths she goes to in order to assure you remain by her side. The lengths they all go to, your Avengers. Did you know SHIELD originally wanted to transfer you to a secretarial position on another floor?”

“Why didn’t they tell me?” Darcy’s voice rose an octave. More shit people never told her. And here she was hearing it for the first time from Loki. “Why not let me defend my own position? Or are you lying? I hear you’re great at that.” If she hit a nerve that time, he was excellent at hiding it.

“I assume because they didn’t want you to feel as if you were a burden. Surely that would’ve been your response?” Loki arranged the cards in his hand before plucking one from the deck. “Also, they know their authority overrules yours; and no matter what you bring to the table, SHIELD could’ve easily done with you whatever it pleased had they not intervened.” He remained suspiciously nonchalant.

 “I don’t get you. You…you sit here telling me how valuable I am when six days ago you implied I was the most worthless piece of excess baggage in the entire organization,” Darcy said, standing from her place on the floor.  “If this is some weird ploy to get into my pants or whatever it is you wanted from that date, just forget it. That doesn’t work on me.” This night wasn’t fun anymore.

“That is not how I meant it, and you know it,” Loki retorted.

“No, I _don’t_ know it,” she bit through clenched teeth and turned to exit the room. Before she reached the hallway though, Loki had risen and spun her around to face him with a hand on each shoulder, holding her tightly in place. 

“Listen to me,” he growled.  On other realms they may call me Silvertongue, but admittedly in the presence of a beautiful woman such as yourself, even my words have a tendency to unravel themselves rather ineloquently. That happened to be the case that night.” His words seemed to be doing a damn fine job right then, though, Darcy mused. Loki took a deep breath before going on. “What I meant at dinner was that there is a spark of something in you that makes you a crucial member of their team, Something that more than makes up for the incompetence you display with their sciences. I asked, rather crudely,  why she keeps you around, because whatever it is within your spirit that holds them all together, Miss Darcy Lewis, I would like you to know that I am drawn to it as well.”

If simply the power of her personality was enough to keep the team of misfits from clawing each other’s eyes out then perhaps, he thought, there would be hope for him too. Even Nicholas enjoyed the girl, smiling more in her presence than Loki thought the man possible. She could be maddening of course, that was certainly the case right then, but he attributed that to her recent stress level.

She stood there gaping at him, but noticed that his grip on her shoulders had loosened. Without a thought as to what she was doing, Darcy reached a hand up and rested it gently on the side of his face. Loki’s eyes widened, stunned by her touch. Instinctively he recoiled, dropping his hands and stepping back. Darcy dropped her hand as well and color slowly flushed to her cheeks. “I..I don’t know why I did that, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was just…unexpected.” Loki stepped forward again. This time he placed his hands on her forearms and leaned into her ear to say quietly,  “this is not, nor has it ever been, a scheme to get you into my bed. I desire to know you. I thought I said that from the very start, that you intrigue me. I have yet to be let down.”

After a pregnant pause and unable to think of anything serious that she could add to the moment, Darcy simply blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. “So, Silvertongue, eh? Double entendre or what?” She snickered as they broke away from each other.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”                                                      

\--

Jane’s lab was bustling with activity that night. She knew she would’ve been better off had she began packing earlier, but now she had help in the form of Thor and the other muscly superheroes who were more than willing to haul heavy boxes for her. She definitely knew who to call if she ever moved out of the Tower.

“Has anyone called Doctor Selvig?” Bruce asked, looking up from the piles of papers he was neatly stacking into a crate. “I spoke to the lab in London but they haven’t heard from him in a couple weeks.”

“Uhh, yeah, I left a message on his cell last night. He’s never been great with phone communication, but I’m sure he knows we’re on our way.” Jane said.  “Hey Cap, grab that phase meter off my desk please?” she asked Steve, pointing  to her messy workspace. “The toaster-looking thing.”

Stark piped up from behind a large device, “luckily, toasters have remained largely unchanged over the years, eh Steve?”

“Tony, now is not the time,” Jane said, getting increasingly more exasperated. She wished Darcy would answer her texts. She felt awful, and she also knew Darcy would have the packing process completely streamlined, _and_ they’d be having so much fun they’d forget how much work they were doing.

\--

Darcy woke up on an unfamiliar-feeling sofa, but without any trace of a hangover. The light clinking of dishware caught her attention and she rolled over to see a mussed-haired Loki at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal and studying the back of the box so intently one would think it held all the secrets of the universe. But in the form of puzzles and children’s trivia. She lazily grabbed her phone, but shot up when she saw the time.

“Crap. I’m going to be late!” She ran past Loki to the door and shouted behind her, “I’ve gotta say goodbye to Jane if I still can. I’ll talk to you later!” She was starting to feel bad about her habit of leaving his apartment in a rush each time, but she figured he’d get over it.  She bolted toward the elevator and pressed the button that would take her to the underground level that connected Stark Tower to SHIELD.

“Jane!” she raced through the Research Department, peering into every meeting room and laboratory she passed. No dice. She rode the elevator to the top floor and searched frantically for the roof access. When she found the stairwell, she climbed up and pounded the heavy metal door open. Her face lit up once she realized the quinjet hadn’t departed yet. She ran toward her boss, who was easy to spot next to Thor. She was the shortest member in the group and bundled in enough layers to cover everyone there.

The sudden intake of frigid winter air stung Darcy’s lungs. She bent at the waist and put her hands on her knees, catching her breath. “Jane…” she sputtered, “I’m so glad you haven’t left yet.”

The astrophysicist tore herself away from overseeing the loading of her prized equipment, including the device Tony had spent the week reworking with her. “Darcy, what are you doing? It’s freezing and you’re not even wearing a coat!” Jane took the giant scarf from around her neck and placed it across the younger woman’s shoulders like a shawl.

“I thought about it a lot, and I couldn’t let you leave without telling you I’m sorry. The way I acted, the stuff I said…you were right,” she twisted the ends of the scarf in her hands as she spoke,  “I never would have done it if you had told me beforehand. But now I’m really glad that I did.” The engines fired up then, leaving Darcy to shout the rest of her piece. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you being in London for five days thinking I was still mad at you!”

Jane launched herself at her assistant. No, her best friend. “I’m sorry I made you feel like you didn’t matter,” she said in her friend’s ear and squeezed tightly. They remained locked in their embrace for a few minutes, until Darcy saw them haul up the last of the cargo into the aircraft.

“You’d better go,” she said, gently peeling Jane away from her. “I have a feeling they won’t wait much longer.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come? It’s not too late.”

“Nah, I already promised my dad I’d go see them tomorrow. Call me when you land, okay?”

After their goodbyes, Darcy stepped back to stand against the exit door as Jane climbed, with Thor’s help, into the jet’s cabin.  When the aircraft lifted from the landing pad and ascended into the air, Darcy held her hand to her forehead, blocking the too-bright rays of the sun. She watched Jane and the others aboard fade into the sky until the jet was no more than a dot among the clouds.

\--

He had never been in her quarters before, this was definitely a first. Darcy hadn’t asked Loki to come over that afternoon, he just sort of appeared. As a plus, he did bring with him everything she had left there last night. She didn’t mind the company while she packed for the weekend, and if SHIELD noticed they still didn’t care. She made a mental note to bring that up when she met Coulson for her pre-trip briefing. When her began to ring from the living room and she went to answer it, Loki took to silently surveying the rest of her space.

The apartment’s layout was almost identical to his own, except mirrored. He’d be lying if he said that he expected her place to be as tidy and sophisticated as it was. He was ready for gaudy colors and adolescent furnishings. The only room that gave away her personality was the bathroom, which was adorned floor to ceiling with pink rubber ducks, complete with a matching shower curtain.

Darcy sat on the couch and toyed with her phone’s charger cord as she listened to her mother drone on from the other end of the line. “No, mom, seriously. Pizza is fine. Make whatever you want, this isn’t thanksgiving or dinner with the President.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what kinds of fancy foods you’ve gotten used to up there! With you living the high life now, I didn’t know if I needed to buy caviar or not,” her mother said with a chuckle.

“Nothing that fancy, I assure you. The café serves hot dogs for crying out loud, and last night I had some very questionable sushi. From the supermarket. On markdown.” Darcy’s attention then turned to Loki, who was now occupying himself by poking at her fragrance warmer across the room. “Stop,” she whispered. “If you get wax all over my table—“

“Who’s that?” her mother chimed in. Apparently she wasn’t being as quiet as she thought.

“No one, just a friend,” she said quickly. Loki shot her an inquisitive look as he rolled the scented purple substance between his thumb and forefinger. “It’s not like I can tell her your name! She does watch the news, you know,” Darcy defended, covering the receiver this time.

“I’ve got to go, mom. I’ll see you in a few hours, after I get some stuff packed. Tell dad I love him.”

“Alright, later sweetie. Don’t forget to bring laundry if you have any. Your father got us a new washer and he’s very excited about it.” Her mother sounded less than impressed.

“Mom, I’ve got robots to do my laundry, I won’t be bringing any.”

“What!”

“Just kidding! I’ll see you soon,” Darcy made a kissing noise before hanging up and turning to Loki, who was now looking at her with an unreadable expression. “Sorry about my mom, she always has to kno—“

“You consider me your friend?”

“Well yeah, sorta. I mean, what else would you be?”

\--

After getting her duffel bag stuffed into her car and Loki back to his own room, Darcy made her way through the office-filled upper floors of SHIELD. This, area of the building was still unfamiliar to her, but she eventually found Agent Coulson’s door and knocked softly. The agent wasn’t altogether too happy about being put on leave from field duty, a result of his near-fatal injury earlier that year, but he took it in stride and found that a part of him enjoyed the more person-oriented side of the organization. He was growing to see that their headquarters housed some truly amazing people, superpowers or not. Darcy Lewis was no exception. The young intern, while sometimes reckless and distracted, was showing to be quite the asset. It was not an insignificant turnaround from the consensus on her in New Mexico. To further prove the point, the Avengers that had spent any real amount of time with her, absolutely loved the girl.

“Come in, Miss Lewis. You’re a little early,” Coulson said.

“Yeah, I wanted to head out before it got dark,” she answered and sat down in one of the cozy leather chairs opposite his desk. She began filling out the paperwork that was already laid out for her, stating her destination as ‘Joisey’ and objective ‘home-cooked meals and motherly hugs.’

“You’ve got your emergency kit? Satellite phone and identification?”

“I’m only going to Belleville, not the Adirondacks,” she said, pulling the phone out of her purse and  flashing the employee ID card that listed her with another organization in a different part of the city. She messed up once already, and told her parents in the midst of the excitement that she was going to live in Stark Tower and work for a ‘Super-secret government agency because of Jane’s awesome science.’ It was chalked up to a newbie mistake, and she assured Coulson that her parents had nobody to tell. She didn’t know what could be done with someone like her, but she still kept up the appearance because she _did_ know that supervillains very rarely fucked around and would get information from anywhere they could.

“It’s for your own safety, Darcy.” She knew that, and Coulson’s voice was always so soft when he used her first name. “We’re just taking every precaution.”

She visibly paused before saying, “can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why does it seem like more ‘precautions’ are being taken for a visit to see my parents than when I spend time with a murderous Asgardian?”

“Director Fury is quite aware of your dealings with Loki, Miss Lewis,” Coulson replied, reverting back to a more formal address. “I can’t tell you that he is altogether pleased with it, but orders right now are to hold back and not interfere. Loki is cooperating with us almost fully, and Fury feels that should we obstruct whatever access he has to you, he could retaliate. It’s very evident he enjoys your company. It’s not something any of us expected when Thor told us how it all started, but it’s working. ”

“Should I be scared?”

“I don’t think so,” he smiled, but the lack of a concrete answer troubled Darcy. “You’re in good hands here.” That was a little better.

“Thanks, Phil,” she said and rose from her seat. Agent Coulson stood along with her and led her to the door. She reached out and pulled him in for a short hug. “You’re my favorite Agent.” He stiffened but after a few moments patted her back. Darcy still wasn’t thrilled about being used now as a method of pacification, but SHIELD never pretended to be her friend. Plus, she didn’t really mind Loki’s company either.

Before she turned to walk away, Coulson put a hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes. “Darcy, if you’re uncomfortable with how this arrangement turned out, just let one of us know. Nick and I can end it anytime you feel unsafe.”

“You know, I think I’m starting to be okay with it,” she nodded before turning to head back to the parking garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 3/3/14: I have decided to end this here. I will be continuing this story with another work. The 'blind date' aspect of it is over, so I felt that this could serve as a kind of long prologue for an actual plotline. I felt this was the best way to keep everything coherent.
> 
> \--
> 
> I really want to develop and examine Jane and Darcy’s friendship, as you can tell. Loki and Darcy will get closer in the next couple chapters, I promise. I still want to take them kind of slow, and I hope you all will think it's worth it in the end. I love you all so much for the nice comments and kudos!


End file.
